Splinter Effect
by Benjamin J Brown
Summary: AU. regeneration sequel. The newly regenerated Doctor and Amy arrive in 2796 Cardiff and soon find something wrong. They're soon thrown into a battle for their lives, while Doctor doesn't know who he is! I don't claim to own Doctor Who or related items.
1. Not Done Yet

The Doctor walked down one of the spiral staircases in the TARDIS control room. He'd just changed his outfit for his new incarnation, having swapped the brown pinstripe suit with converse for a red and white checked shirt, red bow tie, black trousers and shoes and a light brown tweed jacket with elbow pads. He grinned at Amy as he walked past her before beginning to play with the controls.

"So, how do I look?" He said as he pulled a lever.

"Looks a little weird." She said quietly "Funny."

"Funny? Funny's_ good_." He said "So, where to?"

"I don't know, somewhere different." She said "Just not Leadworth."

"Okay then, somewhere different that's not Leadworth." He said, playing with controls until the engines stopped and turning around to gesture to the door "Go take a look."

She stepped outside the TARDIS and looked around. It looked like some high tech financial district, completely different to anywhere she'd been before.

"Where are we?" She asked as the Doctor stepped outside of the TARDIS.

"This? This is Cardiff, 2796." He said, before stumbling a bit.

"Doctor? Are you okay?" She asked, rushing over to him to help him out.

"Yeah, it's just, I got going too soon. I'm not done yet." He said, as he breathed out a small amount of energy "See? Not done yet."

Before she could ask what he meant, he ran off, looking at everything and anything around him. He was completely insane. After a few minutes, she caught up with him and grabbed him by the arm.

"I told you, I don't want to buy any gum!" He said, turning around "Oh, it's you Amy. Sorry, that android back there refuses to take the fact that people don't want to buy petrol flavoured gum. Honestly, petrol tastes good to machines, not people!"

"I gathered…" She said "So, why are we here?"

"You asked for somewhere different that wasn't Leadworth." He said "Why, is something wrong with Cardiff?"

"No, it's just, I don't know, I expected somewhere different, not some when different." She said "This just seems weird."

"Well so do I, so it works rather well, don't you agree?" He said, grinning, before turning and starting walking "Come on, lets see what else is around here."

She followed him, struggling to keep up. He was quick, much quicker than you'd expect considering he was about 6 foot at best. She tried looking around as they kept going, but was worried about losing him. He was obviously unstable at that moment in time. Eventually, they reached the end of the street. It ended in a brick wall.

"Well, that's odd." He said "Tell me Amy, what around here sticks out for you? Anything you notice that's weird, odd, out of place? Other than me and you."

"Well, I don't know." She said "The robots maybe?"

"No. For one they're androids and for another they're quite common around here. By this time about 35% of Cardiff's population are androids or cyborgs." He said "No, I'm talking about that wall. Everything else around here is high tech and metallic, then we reach a brick wall? It's wierd, and that's not the only thing. This wall shouldn't be here."

"Why not?" She asked "I mean, they've got to have an end for things, right?"

"Yes, that's true, but this is meant to be a pier, no walls at any of the five ends. Yes, I said five, they branch off." He said "But we started at the bottom and walked to the top. There are only two ends."

"Maybe the rest haven't been built?" She asked.

"No, that's not right." He said "I was here years ago and the ends were here. And if they're not now, something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" She said "What's wrong?"

"Someone's messing with history." He said "See, there is eventually a wall on this pier, in 49238, during the galactic recession when the pier is closed. They removed the branches in that year. But this is definitely not that year, the high tech stuff is still here. So, I guess we need to investigate."

Before she could say anything, he ran off back the way they'd came. As she turned around, she failed to notice the man in the mask watching them from the window at the top of the wall.


	2. Fearsome Technology

Jonathan walked through the alley that was Cardiff pier. It was busy, as always, but the place seemed a little off. He looked around and spotted it; a blue box sat in a corner. He was about to go take a look when he saw two people walking towards it; an oddly dressed man with hair to match and a ginger haired girl in jeans and a t-shirt with a leather jacket.

"Doctor, what exactly is wrong?" She asked.

"Time is splintering." The man she'd called 'Doctor' said "Which means something's wrong. I mean, in Cardiff, it could be something to do with the rift, but…"

"Rift?" She asked "What rift?"

"The rift." The Doctor said "It's a tear in time and space, similar to the time vortex. Runs through the heart of Cardiff, not too far from here actually. I'd be willing to bet that's the cause as well, at least part of it."

As he finished, he keeled over in obvious pain. The girl moved to help him but he gestured for her to stay back. Jonathan decided it was an okay time to go over, since the guy looked like he was dying.

"Is he okay?" He asked as he came over "It's just I was passing by and saw him just collapse there."

"He's fine." The girl said "Thanks."

"That's okay." He said, before smiling "so, what's your name?"

"Oh, so that's your game." She said, before smirking "Well, before you go any further, I'll just tell you, I have a boyfriend. Sorry."

Before he could get another word in, the man had got up. Deciding it wasn't worth it, especially if the guy turned out to be the boyfriend she was talking about, Jonathan walked away.

"What was up with him?" The Doctor said "And hold on- did you just tell him you have a boyfriend?"

"I do." Amy said "Is that so hard to believe?"

"No, I'm just surprised you haven't spoke about him before." The Doctor said, before laughing "It's good, I love surprises."

* * *

The man in the black uniform walked through the corridor noiselessly. Since he'd arrived in the pathetic area and began altering its future over 350 years before, he'd become bored with it. However, it was necessary. He had to make the place rich with fear. He needed it to survive.

While he looked Human, he was actually a fear eater. His people were immortal, provided there was fear for them to feed upon. That was why he'd been slowly converting the place into the dank, dark suburb it was today. It allowed him to keep them in a state of subconscious fear.

When he reached the end of the corridor, he looked at the monitor there. He'd set it to scan for anything new and outside of his designs. It had arrived on a blue wooden box with the words 'police public call box' on it. He began pressing buttons, setting his system to block any possible functionality. It wouldn't be causing him any problems anymore.


	3. Helpless

"Well, this is no good!" The Doctor said, kicking the base of the central column inside the TARDIS and instantly regretting it as he sat in the chair and removed his shoe, rubbing his foot "It registers something as being there but won't show me it. The worst thing is, it has a lock, but can't bring it up on the monitor."

"Can't you just, you know, set it to take us there?" Amy asked him, amazed he hadn't considered it.

"Oh, Amy Pond, you are brilliant." He said, getting up and kissing her on the forehead before running around the console, pressing buttons, flicking switches and pulling levers "Oh, come on baby, show me what you've got. Damn it!"

"What's wrong?" Amy asked, not wanting to ask why the Doctor had called the TARDIS 'baby'.

"She can't engage the dematerialisation circuit." He said.

"Can't it, you know, fly?" She said.

"Let's see… nope, no flying going on here." He said "Oh god, we're stuck. I hate being stuck, it means I'm, well, stuck, and it sucks!"

"You got anything else?" Amy asked "Any other tricks?"

"No, wait, no, um, yes!" He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the sonic screwdriver, pressing the button, causing the blue light at the end to come on, clicking the bottom and putting it down, the light and whirring still going as he opened a panel and pulled out a cable, hooking it into the screwdriver then pressing some controls, the pitch altering as he took it and put it outside the door "Must leave it there."

"Why, what are you doing Doctor?" She asked.

"I'm using the sonic screwdriver to trace it." He said "I've set it to do it since the TARDIS is being jammed, but a sonic wave is a lot harder to jam. It's like I'm using sonar."

"Uh, Doctor?" Amy said, looking at the monitor "You may want to get out there."

"No, it's about to explode." He said "Far too dangerous for anyone to be there."

"Yes, but someone is beside it." She replied.

"What?!" He said, looking at the monitor "God, it's that kid again!"

He went darting outside and grabbed the young man, pulling him in as he grabbed the cable, pulling it in as well before shutting the door.

"There, the TARDIS is synchronised with it. As soon as it locks in, we'll be taken to what we're looking for." The Doctor said, turning to the young man "Hello by the way, I'm the Doctor, and you are?"

"Jonathan." The young man said "Jonathan Jones. My dad owns the pier. He told me to check what was going on here."

"Oh, nothing, just trying to save the universe, all in a day's work really." The Doctor replied as the TARDIS engines roared to life while there was an explosion outside, which made Jonathan go to look, only for the Doctor to grab him "I wouldn't go out there if I were you. It's a little rough."

The TARDIS shook as it spun through the vortex before finally landing violently, throwing the three of them to the floor. The Doctor pulled himself to his feet first before running over to Amy, pulling her up as he left Jonathan to get himself up.

"Come on." He said as he ran to the door "I always love this bit."

"Oh joy, here we go again." Amy said, grabbing Jonathan by his jacket and leading him out as they followed the Doctor "Come on sun shine. I doubt he'd be happy with me leaving you here."

"You're right there…" The Doctor said before collapsing against the wall outside the TARDIS and breathing out more energy like he had earlier "Oh god, not now. I don't need this now!"

"What's happening to him?" Jonathan said "Mate, are you okay?"

"Do I look bloody okay?" The Doctor said, as his face contorted in pain before clearing for a moment "Sorry, it's just, I'm not done and it hurts so much!"

"Here, let me help." A smart voice said.

Amy and Jonathan turned to see a man in a suit. He reached down and pulled the Doctor up. Then, he let go, letting him fall again before kicking him. He turned and snarled at Amy and Jonathan.

"How does your hero look now?" He said, addressing Amy "Not so heroic, is he?"

"Oh my god!" She said as the man kicked the Doctor again "Stop it!"

"Why would I?" He said "I love your anguish. All those negative emotions, they just fuel me."

"M-maybe so." The Doctor said, rolling away to avoid the next kick "But I'm guessing you need them to survive. That's why you had Jonny boy here get us."

"Wait, how did you know who this is?" Jonathan said.

"Wild guess actually." The Doctor said, laughing, before grabbing Amy's hand "Now, Amy, run!"

He began charging off down the corridor, barging past the man, with Jonathan following them…straight into a lift, with the doors shutting and locking behind them.


	4. I'm The Doctor, and Basically Run!

The Doctor looked around the lift. He couldn't believe he'd been trapped so easily. Now, he, Amy and this guy, Jonathan, who had led them there, were stuck there at the mercy of someone who had claimed he fed on negative emotions. He kept looking for an exit before the visage of the man came up on a video monitor on the back wall.

"Oh, and here's our not-so-gracious host." The Doctor said before the man could get a word in edge ways "So, let's figure out where you're from. You have majorly advanced technology, you can stop the TARDIS with it's default abilities but not with the sonic screwdriver booster loop I did. You know about me generally playing the hero. You can manipulate timelines, and therefore I have to assume travel in time. And last but not least, you feed on negative emotions. I miss anything out there?"

"No, Doctor." The man said "Oh, I was wrong. You missed my knowing who you are and not just you play the hero."

"Right, so with your knowledge of all that, I can narrow down where you're from. Let's see, you're humanoid, to the extent you look Human. Or Time Lord, however you want to put it. Your knowledge of Time Lord Technology suggests you were involved in the war. You have a knowledge of me generically, but not of my devices, hence your inability to block the sonic screwdriver. Finally, there's the smell. You reek of genetic engineering, which puts it down to one thing, but that's impossible." The Doctor said "You can't be…"

"Can't be what, Doctor?" Amy said.

"See, there was this thing, this war, this time war." The Doctor said "Against these creatures whose only emotions were negative, so the Time Lords created these things. They called them fear eaters. They were made to be foot soldiers due to their feeding on negative emotions, but they were too rebellious. They had to be destroyed. However, there were rumours that some of them stole a collection of TARDIS-s and fled. I never thought it was true."

"Well, it was." The man said "And now Doctor, you will all die."

As he said that, the lift started to fall. The Doctor began to play with buttons, apparently in an attempt to get the lift to stop. As he did, Amy and Jonathan seemed to be in a state of panic, with Amy screaming.

"Amy, stop it!" The Doctor said "He wants you to do that, he can feed on that."

As he said that, the lift stopped. The man appeared on the monitor again.

"Oh, and there it is. So, you all know what I am, so let's see what you are. We have the little girl so far from her home, out of her time." He said "Then there's the little boy, so desperate for acceptance that he'll risk the lives of others."

The man paused for a minute before looking at the Doctor.

"And then there's the man who stands alone, the last of his race with no home to speak of." He said "The man who has _nothing!_ The man who will never amount to anything, unable to keep things safe!"

"Oh, you're wrong." The Doctor said "I have so much. And as for the safety, well, you know who I am. And you know all about my exploits. The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Jagrafess, the Zygons, Davros, the Racnoss, the Slitheen, the Absorbaloff, Omega, the Master and even Rassilon himself! They all threatened this world and countless others, and I stopped them every time! I am the Doctor, and basically, if you want to survive, run, run far from here and never return!"

"Let me think about that Doctor…" The man said "No. I have you trapped, why would _I_ run from _you?_"

"Because I know how to kill you. And you were never alive, so I won't have to feel bad." The Doctor said "So, you want to go?"

"Very well, I'll leave, but here's something I want to say." He said as he faded and the lift started moving back up "Look at the broken time piece…"

The Doctor looked puzzled. What had the fear eater meant by that? It wasn't something that would generally be said, but it seemed familiar. He thought about it and shrugged his shoulders. The thing had probably meant the TARDIS, since the Doctor had messed around with it to get there.

"Doctor, what did he mean?" Amy asked.

"Probably just talking about the TARDIS." The Doctor said, snapping his fingers "Speaking of, I need to find his. It needs to be sent away into the vortex. Oh, and Amy?"

"What?" She asked.

"_Now_ I'm done!" He said, grinning as the doors opened.

He ran out of the doors, with Amy following him. As they did, Jonathan just stood there in the lift, reaching into his pocket and pulling out an old fob watch.


	5. The Not Quite Last of the Time Lords

The Doctor and Amy ran into the TARDIS. He darted straight over to the central console where the screen was and began playing with the controls his face fell.

"It's gone…" He said.

"What's gone?" Amy asked.

"The other TARDIS!" He said, slamming his fists down onto the console "The other TARDIS is gone!"

"How do you know?" She said, slightly confused.

"I set the TARDIS, the proper TARDIS, _this_ TARDIS, to scan for others. I found it right as it faded away." He said "And it was a type 117, they were invented in the time war for covert ops. Can't be tracked, not even by other TARDIS'."

"Great." Amy said, before pulling out her phone "Hold on, I've got a call."

"That's not possible." The Doctor said, taking her phone from her and flipping it open "Hello?"

"Hello Doctor." The familiar voice of Jonathan said from the other end of the line "By now I presume you've discovered that _my_ TARDIS is gone. Those type 117's, marvellous, aren't they?"

"Jonathan?" The Doctor said, sitting in the chair and leaning back, putting his feet up on the console "What do you mean your TARDIS?"

"I mean it's mine." Jonathan said from the other end of the line "Though, my name _isn't_ Jonathan Jones. He was but an invention, one the fear eater helped me maintain magnificently, with the help of a chameleon arch of course."

"Who are you then?" The Doctor asked "Rassilon? Omega?"

"No, try again." The other man said down the phone "Here's a hint, first time you found me after the war, you were with miss. Jones, hence the surname of my invention, Jonathan was of course for that John Smith name I know you love so much."

The Doctor sat up. It couldn't be. It just wasn't possible.

"Master…" He said "But you died. I saw you die…"

"No, you saw me pulled back into the war with Rassilon and the other Time Lords. But I escaped once, why not again?"

"But you were only able to die." The Doctor said "How did you regenerate?"

"I had access to the facilities on Gallifrey to give myself a new regenerative cycle." The Master said "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do. I'll let you go since you gave me back my TARDIS. This time…"

Before the Doctor could say anything else, the phone went dead. He slammed it down on the control panel, pulling a stethoscope that looked to large to fit from inside his jacket, putting the metal circle at the end on the phone as he put one of the two earpieces in his ear with the other.

"Damn it!" The Doctor said, putting the stethoscope away and moving away "The signal's too far gone, I can't trace it! He's got away!"

"Who's got away?" Amy asked "Doctor, who was it?"

"It was that Jonathan guy, only not him." The Doctor said, sitting in the chair "You remember I told you about that guy, the Master? Jonathan was him. Just he'd done what I just did."

"That was the Master?" She said "As in the one who's one of your people?"

"Yes." The Doctor said coolly "As in I'm not the last one anymore. That bothers me, it's one of my big claims, now I'm the almost last of the Time Lords but not quite. Still, he's stuck with the same, but if he's out there, everything's in danger."

"Doctor, relax." Amy said "You've got a time machine."

"So does he!" The Doctor said "He can do _anything!_"

"And you can fix it." Amy said "For now, just relax."

"Fine…" The Doctor said, obviously not happy about it but not in the mood to argue, before getting up and beginning to play with the controls "So, where to?"

"I don't know." Amy said "Somewhere new, that isn't-"

"Leadwrth." The Doctor finished for her as he threw a switch, causing the TARDIS to roar to life "Here we go."


End file.
